Savage Fen – Shoegaze… for those who Gaze at Shoes

Savage Fen is an area of swamp, quicksand, and wetlands in Minnesota. This has very little to do with Jon Watje’s solo efforts of the same name, but what does that matter? Anyway, I randomly found Savage Fen one day a while ago and have been waiting for more songs since.

Here’s what John says about the name on his website:

The name “Savage Fen” isnt that complex, in fact very simple. One day in the mid 90s when Jon had his best friend over, they messed around with the music stuff and jokingly called their band Savage Fen. Savage is a small town outside of the Twin Cities. Jon’s parents own dozens of rental property, some in Savage, MN. In back of one of their properties is a fen, or swamp. A fen is like a swamp but also like quicksand which sucks everything in that falls into it. The name stuck in Jon’s head ever since.

I don’t know much about Savage Fen, other than it is one guy, mysteriously named Jon (no “h”? Hmmm…) who was born in Minneapolis and has been recording music while in college at Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City. His style reminds me of Starflyer 59 but only more of it. It’s acoustic shoegaze – very laid-back, dreamy, mellow stuff – and I think you’ll dig it. He’s a little rough and unpolished, and the vocals are a little flat sometimes, but he’s got a lot of potential, especially if he can get a full band together.

Anyway, keep an eye out for him in the future. I think he’s got some great music that could catch on really quickly as long as he gets attention from the right people. And, besides, who else is doing Christian shoegaze music?

Take a look at these Savage Fen songs, all of them downloadable for free on his MySpace:TonightPeople

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